The courts have ordered a list of 99 people who switched their current address to that of a government housing block in Siġġiewi that is still under construction to have their identity card reverted to their original registered addresses.

The huge, newly constructed housing block in Mdina Street is still being completed and is yet to welcome its first residents.

The soon-to-be tenants switched their registered address to their new home at Binja Silvio Parnis, leading the Nationalist Party to file 99 court applications asking the court to switch the residents’ addresses back to their current homes.

In the most recent decision on one of the cases, Magistrate Rachel Montebello directed the Police Commissioner to take criminal action against the voter for making a false declaration and using a forged document.

Moreover, the police were to investigate further to identify the person who signed as witness to the voter’s signature on behalf of Identita’ and helped in filling out the relative forms which contained false information.

Malita Investments CEO Jennifer Falzon told the court that the company had nothing to do with voters’ change of address, saying that it was customer care at the Social Accommodation Ministry who contacted the tenants. 

“Neither I nor anyone from my office contacted Identita’. We never go into identity card issues…we did not organize the change of ID cards,” said Falzon when testifying in one of 99 cases. 

Malita Investments, a government-controlled real estate company, had signed an agreement with the housing authority concerning a number of blocks for social accommodation. 

The company handled financing for the building and then signed agreements with tenants who were selected by the housing authority. 

Once the accommodation was ready, with basic finishes, water and electricity and flooring but no furniture, Malita signed lease agreements with the tenants, explained Falzon. 

The tenants had entered into allocation agreements with the housing authority in 2021 and were handed plans of the prospective properties drawn up by the project manager. 

But discrepancies in the property details, such as numbering of the flats, emerged when final plans were prepared by the architect. 

That was why Malita organized a viewing to compare those plans with the ones formerly given to the tenants. 

But Malita had nothing to do with the change of addresses. They only got a copy of tenants’ ID cards to apply for utilities connection at ARMs. 

“We got to know when my people went on site and saw Identita’ officials,” said Falzon.

Asked by lawyer Karol Aquilina who had contacted the tenants, Falzon named Marvic Grech, customer care official at the Ministry for Social and Affordable Accomodation, and possibly other officials from that office. 

Identita’ officials had been directed to carry out a change of ID cards exercise at Binja Silvio Parnis. 

They sometimes carried out similar work at St Vincent de Paule or prisons, testified Etienne Falzon, one of the officials tasked with handling biometrics. A colleague had been tasked with handling the relative registration details. 

“We were sent on site by our manager to change the ID cards,” said Falzon.

They were directed to one of the apartments which had a notice saying “ID registration office” affixed on the door. The apartment where they carried out the assigned task was bare, except for “a lamp and two desks.” 

PN General Secretary Michael Piccinino testified that when he personally visited the Siggiewi block before filing the applications in court, he confirmed that most of the apartments were accessible and evidently uninhabitable. There were electrical generators and the staircase railings were makeshift. 

All flats had no furniture and only the bathrooms were finished. 

PN welcomes decisions 

In a post on Facebook, PN leader Bernard Grech welcomed the court’s decision, insisting that the party fought for what was right. 

The party claimed that this was “gerrymandering” by the Labour Party which is trying to retain its majority in the locality. In 2019, the Labour Party won Siġġiewi for the first time with a majority of just 70 votes. 

“The Nationalist Party is the only shield in favour of democracy. After weeks of hearings, in front of 22 different magistrates, the Nationalist Party won all the appeals it made against electoral fraud that the Labour government tried to carry out in an attempt to steal the Siġġiewi local council. The Nationalist Party demands that political responsibility be taken in this case of electoral fraud,” he said.